Building construction



April 3, 1934- A. F. Br-:Mls 1,953,287

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION pril 3, 1934. A, F- BEMls 1,953,287

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 19, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l0 /7 azy' l L W w )d 5 April 3, 1934.

A. F. BEMIS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 19, 1930 3 Shepts-Sheet 3v Z756 zag i www Y Patented Apr. 3, 1934 PATENT OFFICE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Albert F. Bemis, Newton, Mass., assigner to Bemis Industries, Incorporated, Boston, Mass., a oorporaton of Delaware Application February 19, 1930, Serial No. 429,615

2 Claims.

This invention relates to wall construction and more particularly to an arrangement which is suitable for vertical walls which are provided with one or two layers of slabs to define a face 5 or faces of the wall. In accordance with the present invention slab members are arranged to cooperate withother parts such as aligning members and llers to permit the rapid and accurate assembly of a wall withouty the necessity for painstaking jolnting or mortaring of parts together. To this end, I may provide elongate aligning members which are designed to have an interfltting engagement with edge portions of rows of aligned slabs thereby to hold the latter in place. Preferably the horizontal edges of the slabs are provided with grooves which may interilt with tongues upon the aligning members, the latter having body portions of substantiallyv rectangular cross-section which hold adjoining rows of slabs in spaced relation to each other. The

ends of the slabs preferably are rabbeted to afford grooves at the vertical joints. suitable filling material or fillers are disposed in these grooves to provide faces in substantially the same plane as the corresponding faces of the elongate aligning members. The rabbeted portions of the\slabs also provide means for engagement with tie elements which may secure the slabs to a structural portion of the wall or the opposite layer of slabs. Preferably the tie members are provided with parallel extensions which engage opposite faces of the ends of the slabs, thereby anchoring the latter against movement in either direction.

The aligning members and slabs may be so constructed that the former may be arranged with faces either flush with the faces of the slabs or reentrant in relation thereto to provide grooves. In either case, the fillers may be arranged to have their faces in the same plane as that of the corresponding faces of the aligning members. For this purpose the key members may have a thickness which is less than that of the slabs and their tongues may be offset in relation to their central portions so that the distance of each tongue from one face of the aligning member corresponds to the distance of the face of a slab from the groove, which preferably may be centrally disposed in relation to the slab, while the other face of the aligning member may be disposed nearer to the tongues.

In accordance with this invention, suitable corner slabsV of right-angle formation may be provided to engage the aligning members and thus to afford a corner arrangement of substan- Preferably (Cl. 'J2-44) tially the same type as the -body portions of the slab layers, or, if desired, the corners may be poured from cementitious material, or awire netting may be arranged at the corners to permit the gunning of cementitious material to ll the 50 gap between the ends of the plane slab layers. The employment of cementitious material, not only for the slabs but for the keys and the fillers, permits a construction which is inexpensive and which is adapted to withstand the exposure to 55 moisture and adverse weather conditions to which exterior walls are commonly subjected.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a typical wall assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention; v

Fig. 2 is an elevational View of such a wall;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the same;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through a typical corner arrangement;

g Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an end portion of a slab and a section of an aligning member engaging the same; I

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a typical tie member;

Fig. 7 is a broken perspective view of the preferred form of slab;

Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional details showing optional arrangements at the ends of slabs;

Fig. 10 is a broken perspective of one form of 85 corner construction;

Fig. 11 is a horizontal section of the same; and

Fig. 12 is a broken perspective of the aligning member showing the metal reinforcement therefor.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, arwall con# structed in accordance with this invention may be provided with one or two layers of slabs 1 which preferably are formed of cementitious material, such as Portland cement, which may in- Y' clude a ne gravel aggregate. The horizontal edges of the slabs are provided with keyways or grooves 3, which preferably are disposed midway between the faces of the slabs. The ends of the latter may be rabbeted, as designated by numeral 4, to provide extensions 5. i

Elongate aligning members '7 are disposed between the horizontal edges of the slabs, which are arranged end to end in rows, the aligning members preferably having a suflicient length togiermit them to engage a plurality of slabs in each of two adjoining rows. 'Members 7 preferably are formed of cementitious material similar to that of the slabs and have body portions 10 which are 1,10

substantially rectangular in cross section. The aligning members have outstanding tongues 11 which are adapted to engage the grooves in the slabs. A single metal reinforcing rod 'l0 may be disposed substantially in the center of the aligning member (Fig. 12) and extend longitudinally thereof, having a plurality of short cross rods 7l welded or otherwise secured thereto and projecting into the tongue portions of the member. Preferably the thickness of the aligning members is less than that of the slabs, and the keys 1l are offset in relation to a plane parallel to the faces of the key members which are to be exposed. Thus the tongues 11 may be spaced at a distance from the face 14, Fig. 5, of each aligning member which corresponds to the spacing of the grooves from the main faces of the slabs, while the opposite face 16 of each aligning member may be spaced at a less distance from the tongues 11. Accordingly the members "I may be assembled with the slabs 1 so that their faces 14 are flush therewith and so that their faces 16 are reentrantly disposed in relation to the faces of the slabs. This affords an arrangement which permits a wall to have its exposed face substantially continuous or in the same plane, or to have its face interrupted by or characterized by grooves, as may be desired.

At the bottom of the wall, for example where the same rests upon the footing, an aligning member '1B may be employed which may be of the same generaLtype as the other aligning members but lmay be provided with a plane bottom surface engaging the upper face of the footing a'nd may have a single tongue 11a to engage the superposed row of slabs. lf desired a similar arrangement may be used at the top of the wall where the same engages a girt or the like. V

Tie members may extend between the ends of the slabs and either secure opposite slab layers to each other or connect the slabs to a structural portion of the building. For example, tie members 20 may be formed of sheet metal and have outer oppositely bent tongues 21 to engage the faces of the rabbeted end portions of two adjoining slabs which are parallel to the exposed faces of the slabs. Each tiemay also have two inner oppositely bent tongue portions 23 which are adapted to engage the backs or inner faces of the slabs l, thereby opposing the movement of the slabs in either direction. If but a single layer of slabs is employed, suitable tie members may be arranged in an analogous manner to secure the slabs to structural portions of the wall or the like.

Suitable filler members, which preferably may be of cementitious material, are arranged in the grooves at the ends of the slabs to conceal the tongues 21 of the tie members. Preferably a single size of filler member 30 may be employed for all purposes. Thus when it is desired to provide a wall with a grooved effect, i. e., when the faces 16 of the aligning members are exposed, the backs of the fillers may be lightly coated with mortar, and they may be disposed in juxtaposition to the tongues 21 of the ties so that their faces are substantially in the same plane as the exposed faces 16 ofthe aligning members. On the other hand, if it is desired to have a wall with a substantially continuous face, a suitable amount of mortar 29 may be disposed between the filler members and the vertical grooves, (Fig. 8) vso that the former have their faces substantially ush with the exposed faces of the slabs andaligning members.

'I'he employment of a thin or thick layer of mortar, as desired, at the vertical joints facilitates the water-tight construction of the wall. At the horizontal joints the interfitting engagement of the aligning members and grooved edges of the slabs provides a substantially effective seal, although, if desired, the engaging surfaces of the aligning members and slabs may be lightly coated with mortar or the like.

As shown at the juncture of the inner layers of slabs illustrated in Fig. 4, at a corner one slab layer may be cut olf and the other be extended so its end portion is substantially flush with a face of the first-named layer. Especially at exterior corners, it may prove desirable to provide special corner slabs of right-angled shape, which are designated by numeral 40, and are provided with grooves to align with the grooves 3 in the plane slabs, whereby the aligning members may be effective in holding the corner slabs properly in position. At the corner special tie members may be provided to hold such corner slabs in place, Fig.v 4 showing one desirable arrangement wherein tie bolts 41 provided with wing nuts 43 and washers 44 engage the rabbeted portions of the corner slabs and the adjoining plane slabs, holding the latter against the post 48.

Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate another possible corner arrangement wherein the metal supports 50 are secured at vertically spaced intervals to the post 48 and provide extensions 49 engaging the rabbeted portions of the plane slabs in each of the walls. Angle members 61 are secured to metal supports 50 and a suitable meshed wire 55 is secured by wires 56 to the angles 61, this wire'llf) mesh being arranged to define the shape of the corner portion of the wall which may either be right angled or curved, as desired. Thereupon cementitious material may be applied-to the wire mesh by a suitable concrete gun or the like until j the outer surface of the corner assembly which is thus built up is substantially aligned with the exposed faces of the slabs. If desired, concrete may be poured in temporary forms to provide a suitable cementitious filling at the corners. 120

From the foregoing it is evident that I have provided a wall assembly which permits the employment of cementitious or concrete slabs, aligning members and filler members greatly to facilitate the construction of the wall and to permit the unusually sturdy and secure intertting connection of its parts, and that the inexpensive metal ties are substantially the only members which are needed to hold the slabs in place aside from the concrete or cementitious parts themselves. 13o This arrangement requires the employment of only a small amount of mortar and facilitates the proper positioning of the slabs in relation to each other, thereby lowering the cost of assembly and enhancing the accuracy of construction.

I claim:

1. A building wall comprising a layer of slabs disposed in rows and defining substantially the entire wall face, horizontal edges of the slabs be- 14C ing provided with grooves that are aligned with grooves of adjoining slabs in the same row, and horizontally disposed elongate aligning members having tongue portions each of which are received by the grooves in a plurality of slabs, the perimetric surfaces of the slabs at each side of the grooves being spaced by the aligning members from the corresponding surfaces of an adjoining row of slabs, the tongues upon each aligning member and the grooves upon the slabs bethe entire face of a'wall, rows of said slabs having edge portions in alignment and in spaced relation to the edges of 'adjoining rowsof slabs, horizontally disposed elongate aligning members of relatively small cross section having outstanding tongues engaging grooved edge portions of a plurality of slabs in each of two adjoining rows, said aligning members being formed of eementitious material, the 'vertical edges of the slabs being rabbeted to provide vertically extending grooves upon one face of the slab layer, metal connecting `elements securing the rabbeted ends of adjoining slabs .in alignment, ller members of cementitious material tting within the grooves to cover the metal connecting members, and grouting between the inner faces of the ller members and the inner faces of the grooves, said grooves upon the edges of the slabs and the tongues upon the aligning members being arranged sov that the aligning members may have outer faces substantially flush with the faces of the slabs extending between the grooves afforded f by the rabbeted end portions, and so that the relationship of the aligning members and grooves may be reversed to permit the faces of the alignf 

